The mighty Hot Cakes continue to put the spotlight on their sister label, Hot Cakes Bass, as a host of the UK Bass scene’s top talent get to work remixing head honcho Deekline’s collaborative ‘Deep In The Jungle EP’

Deekline – I Can’t Wait (Fish & Lucent Remix)

Fish is currently a man on fire, and he teams up with Lucent for the first remix on this release. Though the vocal and riff from the original ‘I Can’t Wait’ have been used, that’s where the similarities end. The breaks have been swapped out for a weighty 4×4 drum pattern, and the main section of the track consists of a face slapping, midrange bounce, interjected by metallic stabs, sliding themselves into the mix. There’s a smattering of vocal chops, keeping up momentum and acting as a constant reminder of the original. After the second breakdown, which doesn’t differ too much from the intro, things start to get really wonky. With a more melody-focused bassline now, the metallic sound comes to the fore and really starts to run things, ricocheting off of everything else in the mix, before entering extremely wobbly territory. With just enough time for one final switch, the midrange bounce re-asserts itself, before outro-ing in a surprsingly calm fashion. There’s a lot going on in this track, but it’s been controlled brilliantly by Fish and Lucent with everything sitting comfortably in the mix, and it makes brilliant primetime dancefloor material.

Deekline & Tony Quattro – 3 Mins To Midnight (Spookz Remix)

Low Pitched Records co-owner Spookz is up next, taking on the more chilled out vibes of 3 Mins To Midnight. Spookz has really grabbed the original by the balls and given it a hefty revamp, making use of the existing euphoric melodies and vocals to build and build and build before dropping into a sour, screw face bassline that’s so metallic you can almost physically polish it. After another ‘hands in the air’ breakdown, the second drop switches up, with a second, earthier bass sound adding some more texture and grit to what is otherwise a very smooth, clean sounding track. The contrast is welcome though, and goes well with the already existing contrasts between the breakdowns and main sections. The only downside to this track is that the clap could do with more presence; it’s just lacking the same punch as all the other elements Spookz has put together. Other than that though, job well done.

Deekline & Tony Quattro – Deep In The Jungle (Fish Remix)

Going solo this time, Fish takes on title track ‘Deep In The Jungle’ an offers up a revibe of what was already a Jungle inspired monster. Atmospheric bells lead the intro as drums slowly filter in, all backed by a huge sub and chops of original vocals. This is all before the nastiest Reese you’ve heard all year bullies it’s way to the front of everything. Dropping into well processed breaks and stabs of brass, the Reese from hell goes blow for blow riffing with an equally weighty counterpart. It’s actually this second bass that becomes more dominant during the second drop, after a very brief breakdown, as it hits with seemingly more aggression than before. This remix is going to be an absolute must have for Breaks fans, and UK Bass DJ’s alike, and has provided further evidence of Fish’s versatility (in case anyone was in any doubt).

Pelikann and Lucent were also tasked with remixing ‘Deep In The Jungle’ and have done so in quite possibly the most ridiculous, ‘grab the nearest thing to hand and launch it cause it’s just too fucking mental’ fashion. As you would expect, their version also relies the original vocals and rolling breaks (which sound gloriously crisp by the way), and they’ve even recalled the goosebump inducing piano riff. We knew this was going to be a serious tune when we had to stop ourselves wheeling it before it had even dropped; the bass filtering in pre-drop already had us screwing and the drop itself is sheer, gun finger slinging ecstasy for any basshead. There’s genuinely not really too much we can do in the way of describing this remix without detracting from how serious it is. All we can do is advise that you don’t listen for the first time in public for fear of reacting too extremely.

Deekline & Tony Quattro – Deep In The Jungle (Long-E Remix)

With the final version of ‘Deep In The Jungle’, and rounding the release off with some UKG, is Long-E. Opting to keep things fairly true to the original in the intro, Long-E drops into shuffling, 2step drums and dark, sharp bass stabs, generously coated in reverb. These bass stabs vary between standing alone and pairing up with a warm and understated Reese. Other variations to keep the track bubbling along smoothly include the assorted vocal samples coming and going, and that melancholic yet euphoric piano line making an occasional appearance. Long-E has used a good amount of space in this version, allowing all of the elements to breath, which is welcome after the hectic remixes that came before it. However, that doesn’t mean there is a lack of bite to this interpretation of ‘Deep In The Jungle’; we expect UKG DJ’s far and wide will be spinning this one.

Overall: 8/10

‘Somebody make some bloodclart noise!’ Hot Cakes Bass are on a hot-streak right now, releasing consistently good music from versatile, forward thinking producers across the whole span of UK Bass, and this remix EP does nothing but strengthen their position. The amount of different vibes and influences portrayed across 5 remixes by 5 producers is a really good indicator as to how open the Hot Cakes Bass music policy is, and the quality is high throughout. The only thing we’d like to see more of from Hot Cakes Bass moving forward is original releases, rather than remix EP’s, but that doesn’t detract from how good this EP is.